Tuesday, November 29, 2005

SF Reviews have posted a review of Mike Resnick's Starship: Mutiny, Mike's first ever military SF and the first of a planned five book series, which nails dead on what I love about Resnick's ficiton: "Resnick, a quintessential old pro, is so skilled at delivering whip-smart, fast-paced pure entertainment that he could tell tales like this in his sleep and achieve more fun and enjoyable results than any ten SF writers who sweat blood into the effort.... But with his infectious devotion to the kinds of SF 'they just don't make like they used to,' that so many of us grew up with, Mike Resnick proves that while you might not be able to teach an old dog many new tricks, the old tricks still kick plenty of ass. "

Update: SF Crowsnest agrees: "Resnick's writing is effortless, full of snappy dialogue and a fast moving plot. The real delight to reading this novel is the banter and jokes in the conversations between Cole and the crewmates he does get on with, the insults and sarcastic comments with those he doesn't get on with and the real feeling of camaraderie and society it creates. It's very easy to imagine this as a real world and setting because the characters act so naturally together.This was my first time at a Resnick book, so I had no expectations coming in. Needless to say, I was impressed. This is high quality work. It feels a lot like if they made Star Trek without all the campness and most of the scientific gaffes. There's a veneer of quality and above all believability that makes this heads above many space operas."

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Yesterday, the first review of my upcoming anthology FutureShocks came out in Publishers Weekly. They singled out stories by Sean McMullen, Adam Roberts, and Robert Charles Wilson, saying "These writers stress human potential for bad choices. Evidently, we are the scariest aspect of the future. Read in short stretches, this volume offers a worthwhile assortment of jolting warnings." I'm most pleased with the review, and very happy for the writers in question. And, of course, a big thanks to everyone involved for what I humbly believe is an excellent assortment of science fiction wrapped in a beautiful cover.

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Just returned from the World Fantasy Convention in Madison, WI, that Graham Joyce-styled mobile Brigadoon of like-minded friends meeting once a year to pick up where they left off. Highlights were meeting Pyr authors Charles Coleman Finlay and Michael Blumlein in the flesh, as well as artist Caniglia (who provided the excellent cover illustration for Michael's book). Also good to see copy editor extraordinaire Deanna Hoak, Jonathan Strahan, Toby Buckell, Greg Manchess, Irene Gallo, and a host of others. Most gratifying: seeing John Picacio win the award for Best Artist. Most surprising: finding out that Jay Caselberg is good with kids. Who knew? Pictured right is my son Arthur, who made his convention debut this weekend, seen enjoying himself in the company of authors Jess Nevins and Hal Duncan.

Ironic framing: the night before the convention, hanging out in Jonathan Strahan and Garth Nix's suite (thanks guys), discussing definitions of SF with Borderland's Alan Beatts, who floated the criteria that for a work to be SF an author had to be deliberately and consciously writing within the tradition, aware of the history of SF and part of the community, a definition which excludes works like Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife and Philip Roth's The Plot Against America. Then, the night after the convention, a final late-night conversation with Paolo Bacigalupi (or someone claiming to be Paolo Bacigalupi, hugs toCheryl). Paolo, it turns out, reads only nonfiction and The New Yorker, and confessed that he had no idea who any of the writers he met during the con were. This did not stop him from writing the Hugo-nominated "The People of Sand and Slag." My own 2 cents: When Professor Roy Hinkley Jr. invents a flying plastic disc in his new university lab in Rescue from Gilligan's Island, it's still a frisbee, whether he knows it or not.

Frostborn

Thrones and Bones

About Me

Lou Anders is the author of the Thrones and Bones series, a middle grade fantasy adventure that begins with the novel Frostborn, published by Random House’s Crown Books for Young Readers. He is a Hugo award winning editor and a Chesley Award winning art director, with six additional Hugo nominations, six additional Chesley nominations, three World Fantasy award nominations, a Shirley Jackson award nomination and a Philip K. Dick award nominations. For ten years, he served as the editorial director of Pyr books. Additionally, he is the editor of nine anthologies, including Swords & Dark Magic (Eos, 2010, with Jonathan Strahan), and Masked (Gallery Books, 2010). He is the author of The Making of Star Trek: First Contact (Titan Books, 1996), and has published over 500 articles in such magazines as The Believer, Publishers Weekly, Dreamwatch, DeathRay, Star Trek Monthly, Star Wars Monthly, Babylon 5 Magazine, Sci Fi Universe, Doctor Who Magazine, and Manga Max. His articles and stories have been translated into Russian, Spanish, Danish, Greek, German, Italian & French.